India’s shipping sector is all set to grow manifold in years to come and ministry of defence will ensure that the shipping sector of the country gets the necessary assistance in growth, said Union Minister for Defence Manohar Parrikar.

Parrikar was speaking at a session on Shipbuilding, Ship Repair and Ship Breaking at the Maritime India Summit 2016 here. He said that the maritime sector is crucial from the defence point of view.

“Defence ministry will extend all possible support to the shipping industry,”Parrikar said.

He said that the defence ministry is process to sign MoU with shipping ministry to device ways to help ship yards in the country. “Till now, the defence ministry did not rope in the shipping sector in defence projects, since the orders could not be met in time due to financial constraints of shipping sector. The main objective of the MoU is to ensure that defence orders given to private shipyards are met in time," Parrikar said.

With new approach, the defence ministry will be instrumental in generating millions of jobs in the maritime sector over next couple of years. He said that government is proactively working to exploit the vast coast line having infinite opportunities.

Ship repair is one of the focus areas, wherein defence ministry is willing to outsource naval repairs to help in growth, Parrikar added.

Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of steel and mines said, "Government is taking all steps to help shipping industry. Steel and shipping industries are complementary to each other. More the ship building, more would be the demand for steel. It will help steel industry also in a big way," he said.